Newsworthy Wedding!

A pair of on-the-scene Houstonians find true love and merge families with a little help from their friends.

Dominique Sachse & Nick Florescu, May 19, 2012

The groom awaiting his bride alongside Osteen

The wedding bands with the family crested invitation printed by Embossed Graphics

Beautiful bite-sized hors d’oeuvres by Katsuya

Lacy fondant and floral details of the dress-inspired cake

The bride’s six-tiered cake in all its glory

The couple share a tender moment at their reception.

With newlyweds Dominique Sachse and Nick Florescu, the phrase “it takes a village” comes to mind. Whether they’re relating the story of how they met (through her college pal, Monsour Taghdisi) or tied the knot (at the home of family friends), or discussing the details of their daily lives (her son, his five children), it’s clear the couple is part of a larger tapestry, woven with threads that bond friends and family.

In fact, it was watching Florescu with his daughter and her son that attracted Sachse, the evening news anchor for NBC affiliate KPRC.

Florescu, a businessman and honorary consul to Romania, was similarly smitten: “When she first walked up, I knew there was something special about her,” he says. “After that first date, there was no one else.”

With early plans for a Rome wedding set aside once the couple realized many friends and family would be unable to attend, they knew they didn’t want to get married in a ballroom or country club. The venue had to be special.

Enter longtime friends John and Becca Cason Thrash, who offered heir home—and her expert eye for throwing events. “When the guest list grew from 50 to 150, I knew we would have to cover the [indoor] pool—or we would have guests falling in,” laughs Cason Thrash, who arranged for Los Angeles DJ Mia Moretti and electric violinist Caitlin Moe to play all night.

Sachse’s lacy fit-and-flare Ines Di Santo gown—found on the pages of Modern Luxury Brides Houston and purchased at Ivory Bridal Atelier—inspired cake designer Nadine Moon. “Everyone commented on the cake,” Sachse says. “It was a hit!” But Florescu fondly recalls his bride in her gown. “She blew me away,” he says. “I remember that like it was yesterday.”

Meanwhile, Lakewood Church pastor and officiant Joel Osteen charmed them both. “His nervousness was so endearing,” Sachse says. “He asked me ‘Dominique, do you take Nick to be your lawfully wedded wife?’ The place erupted!”

Most special still was having their children in the wedding. “It was a celebration of relationships, of life, of love for us,” Sachse says. “That’s what made it so significant.”